Romney Back as Frontrunner in Fox Poll; Cain Jumps Ahead

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Mitt Romney, who lost his top spot after Rick Perry's entry into the race for the GOP presidential nomination last month, has regained his position, and Herman Cain has dramatically risen to third place, according to a new Fox News poll.

Former Mass. Gov. Romney had slipped to second place in the Fox News poll in August with the support of 22 percent of voters. But Fox's new poll released Wednesday evening gave him back the status of frontrunner with his steady support of 23 percent.

After three Republican debates since the last poll, Texas Gov. Perry moved to second place with just 19 percent supporting him as the Republican presidential nominee. In the August poll, held soon after Perry launched his presidential campaign, he had the support of 29 percent to claim the top position.

The support for former Godfather's Pizza CEO Cain witnessed the most impressive shift. He was supported by just six percent in August, but his score tripled to 17 percent giving him third place this time around.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich also increased his score from three percent in August to 11 percent in the September poll. Minn. Rep. Michele Bachmann, however, could not maintain her support of eight percent, which put her in third place, in the previous poll. She came down to three percent in the new poll. In July, Bachmann had the support of 15 percent of voters.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Governor of Utah Jon Huntsman were ahead of Bachmann in the new poll with six percent and four percent, respectively.

Asked which of the Republican presidential candidates they had the most in common with, 17 percent – the highest – said Perry, followed by Cain with 14 percent. Only 12 percent named Romney, and 10 percent said Bachmann.

Some Republicans are encouraging New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to run for president because they see him as a strong leader and a straight talker. The poll asked the voters if they thought Christie should run for president. Only 32 percent said “yes.” Asked if Donald Trump’s endorsement of a candidate would influence their decision, only six percent said they were “more likely” to vote for that candidate.

The poll, conducted Sept. 25-27, was based on live telephone interviews with a national sample of 925 registered voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.